Douglas Edward Kacos appears at Kent County Circuit Court on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014. Kacos, owner of the New Beginnings Restaurant chain, was sentenced for laundering money as part of a Ponzi scheme.Cory Morse | MLive.com

Thomas John DoctorCourtesy Photo

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – It will be probation and community service for the owner of New Beginnings Restaurant, who pleaded no-contest to fourth-degree money laundering as part of a Ponzi scheme that bilked 140 mostly elderly investors out of $9 million.

Douglas Edward Kacos was in Kent County Circuit Court Monday, Jan. 27, where Judge James Robert Redford told the 58-year-old he would not be going to jail.

It is the same sentence handed down to 60-year-old Kentwood resident Thomas Doctor, which included three years of probation and 50 hours of community service.

According to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, Kacos helped alleged conman Jeffrey Ripley hide money from investigators and regulators looking into the scheme, which ran from November 2006 through February 2011.

The funds were run through the restaurant at 1455 Michigan Ave. NE and were deposited in foreign accounts, according to a warrant filed in Grand Rapids District Court by special agent Martin May.

May said 58-year-old Kacos converted to cash investments collected from the victims under the guise of API Worldwide Holdings, a holding company used to sell fake securities.

About 140 people were swindled, with losses ranging from $3,000 to $600,000 each, according to the state.